It’s been amazing how much designer deliciousness we run into each week over at Tasteologie ~ from illustrated recipes, to amazing mini cake stacks, home made candy favorites, pumpkin goodies galore (from pasta sauces to squeezing pumpkin pie through a bag as frosting…) and so much more! Explore and find out more by clicking the pics!

Remember when I first wrote about Dan Akroyd’s Crystal Head Vodka almost exactly 2 years ago and people actually thought we were part of the joke propagating across the internet? But it was REAL? And awesomely pretty? Well wandering the supermarket last night i ran into the Crystal Head Vodka Gift Set ~ gorgeous skull bottle paired with two rather large mini skull shot glasses (missing skull caps!) and i couldn’t resist. While they seem EVEN bigger, after testing it out, each skull shot holds about 2.5oz… and that their need for a skull cap… i just couldn’t resist planting some succulents in there! So cute! Succulents in the skull = Skulculents? or Succuskulls? See more pics on the next page! They are way too fun!

Dog lamps! And Doggie portraits! Justine just sent some awesome pics over of “A Shoe Is A Dog’s Best Friend” with assemblage dog lamps by James Plumb and photos of his dogs by Bruce Weber… as spotted in some London Selfridges windows! So bizarre, yet cute, this window is a must see! Check out some of the details on the next page…

p.s.
find some awesome design details while running around? Feel like sharing them with the NOTCOT community? Drop us a line!

Have you heard? LA weather has been pretty heinous lately ~ gloomy grey raininess is upon us! So sad, since some of the favorite spots i wanted to show you are definitely more fun outside! So here’s one to mix it up a little ~ though an LA native, and having ended up back here ~ i spent quite a few years on and off living in San Diego! And being a mere 2 hours away, and loving a good drive to clear my head, one of my favorite things to do while in LA, is just pop down, sometimes for a few days, sometimes just for a day trip! And inevitably hit up a few nostalgic spots… this saturday, i popped down to get some much craved Carne Asada Fries (though apparently sometimes referred to as Mexican Poutine as i just found out ~ though they are far better!) from Cotixans… and checking out the harbor seals that haul out at Casa Beach in La Jolla. There is something so incredibly blissed out about the way the pups look when sleeping! So this favorites post is dedicated to some nostalgic comfort food and a dash of nature… it’s also just so calming to be on the edge of the sea as it crashes into the rocks and beach as tide comes in… See awesome pics of seals and fries that Tasteologie editor, Jackson, took on the next page!

When we look at retro modern scenes ~ the future as imagined back in the 60s ~ the jetson’s styled stuff… i keep wondering where our gorgeous image of the future we’ll look back on in 50 years is, and will still wish we had (if we don’t already have it by then!)… then i saw this EVO-mobil design by Ora-Ito for Citroën… or even more impressive, i was won over by the photoshoot of it with actress Mylène Jampanoï for the stunningly artistic automotive mag, Intersection… and i wish i lived in that reality! Its so beautiful! “Af­ter more than 3 years of col­lab­o­ra­tion with Cit­roën on the de­vel­op­ment of ar­chi­tec­tu­ral pro­jects, Ora-ïto turned to the man­u­fac­tur­er to de­vel­op his first artis­tic pro­ject. The icon­o­clas­tic artist wasn’t dream­ing about another con­cept car but a ge­net­ic trans­for­ma­tion. An unu­su­al cre­a­tion re­u­nit­ing more than 400 years of his­to­ry, a re­flec­tion on the evo­lu­tion of the mo­bil­i­ty and the le­g­endary know-how of Cit­roën. On the edge of the hy­poth­e­sis and the con­tem­po­rary art, this hy­brid ob­ject is based on the ful­fill­ment of child’s dream with an ob­vi­ous com­mit­ment for the ecol­o­gy. ” See more images of the beautiful futuristic concept shot in front of the architectural work designed by Oscar Niemeyer ~ as well as the making of video on the next page!

Perhaps the most amazing room service experience yet… OWC stands for One While Changing. You know, that drink that you have while getting all primped and ready… maybe if you’re lucky, the bartender will even help zip you up after shaking up that martini? Since i couldn’t make it this weekend, I sent Anna from Sub-Studio down to the opening of Soho Beach House Miami ~ much like the rest in the collection, this part hotel, part membership club, part restaurant is the latest in the stunning Soho House group worldwide. But before i tell you more about that, back to the OWC!

You call down to room service, and up pops a lovely bartender and rolling bar! (In the case of this launch weekend, she also got a bonus gentleman rolling up with some savories…) Even though Anna is quite pregnant, she knew what Liqurious needed, and still ordered them up ~ and they were kind enough to indulge her in “anything non-alcoholic and pretty”, resulting in a citrusy, minty delight ~ perhaps a virgin mojito of sorts? Along with caviar with creme fraiche and tuna tartare on toast! Divine, isn’t it? Even if not going out, it sounds like a lovely service ~ such a nice way to bring the experience of cocktail right into the room. Take a peek on the next page of the process, the lovely carts, and the bartender in action!

I always swoon over the Litill Ltd. terrariums when i’m at A+R ~ and i’ve been giddy staring at these pictures that amazing photographer, Lauren Coleman, from Litill Ltd. sent over which she shot of their latest installation in collaboration with Annie Larson’s knit work at E.R Butler & Co. in NYC which are absolutely fabulous window displays! There’s something magical about both the succulent/air plant/mossy mini worlds, as well as the amorphous and organic bulbous glass structures they live within. Absolutely stunning ~ you have to see the way these are installed in the windows… mind blowing pics on the next page! (Thank you, Lauren!)

On silly trends that seem to be popping up… have you noticed the Magnetic Clothing trend? Sure, a lot of people switch their jewelry clasps to magnets to make things easier, and its definitely helpful for arthritic hands and such… but magnetic babies clothes are available from Magnificent Baby and magnetic lingerie from french Lingerie Dement… and if you’re ambitious enough, you could even wear, what one could barely call a bathing suit, a swim suit of magnets from Klik Klik Jewelry. Perhaps it’s just me, but i can just imagine being THAT magnetic ~ as if the horror of toilet paper sticking to your shoe isn’t bad enough, what if a fork leaps up from the table and stuck to your cleavage… or sticks to your CHILD? This could get dangerous! Are these rare earth magnets? How strong is this stuff? Then again, if its TOO weak, that could also pose a lot of problems! So i’m curious ~ would you go magnetic? On the upside, maybe the magnetic wallet could be an attachment that just snaps on to your… clothes? Could it be set up so this is even more effective than those magnetic therapy bracelets? Or could it be detrimental? I totally understand the appeal of not dealing with all those buttons on your baby’s clothes ~ and wanting to preserve your gorgeously lacy lingerie while still letting him literally rip them right off of you in no time at all… but would you wear it? And how does it react when you go through airport security! Clearly i have a million and one questions running through my head on this theme tonight ~ i blame Cool Hunting for kicking off this train of thought, and finding the adorable illustrations over at My Little Paris… now go see all the pics on the next page!

Mmmmmm if Tasteologie had a sound effect ~ that would be it. So much more than just food, it’s been so fun seeing all the creativity and design popping up in the food space. Not to mention stunning photography, tools i never even dreamed of, and mac and cheese gnocchi. And you wouldn’t believe how many ways you can use mason jars…. like for making jarpies… or BREAD! Explore them all by clicking the pics to find out more!

Thinking through favorite LA spots ~ this one’s nostalgic! Fred Segal Santa Monica’s benches out front as one of my childhood memories! Sadly, my favorite one used to be a grown up and a kid silhouette, which is no longer there! But there are still two others! My mom used to take me there when i was in a stroller ~ and we even used to sit on the bench together on the silhouettes… and as much as this shopping haven has evolved and grown over the last 20 years, there’s still something comforting and fun about the patio out front ~ not to mention the shopping inside! An array of little boutiques housed the buildings across 5th St and Broadway ~ everything from fashion to beauty to gifts to purses to jewelry and some delicious food as well ~ it’s a nice little haven that i pop by every time i’m back in LA. So take a peek at a few snap shots we shot while there tonight on the next page!

An amazing and important art show occured in NYC this weekend ~ RE:FORM SCHOOL, a REDU Project! And luckily, while i couldn’t make it, Anna of Sub-Studio was willing to go check it out for us!!! And WOW! So many incredible pieces! With three floors of art, over 150 artists participating, and a mind blowing weekend of events… looks like it was quite the show ~ and brought together by the folks behind the incredible Manifest Equality and Manifest Hope. How do they describe it? “RE:FORM SCHOOL is a high profile group art exhibition, event series and public awareness campaign taking place in New York City, that brings together the creative community in a call for the reform of the American Public Education System.” Now… on to some of the many incredible pieces… see the next page!

Happy 10th Anniversary, Prius! As you saw in my “day in my life through pics” post of the 8 hour event yesterday Prius threw in Malibu’s Wright Organic Resource Center… the Outstanding In The Field dinner was an incredible site to behold ~ not to mention feast to enjoy! So as promised, here’s a closer look at the meal itself ~ from preparation to table design to the fun of the dinner itself! And of course… more looks at the dinner from afar as the sun set… it was just bubbling with everyone’s excited energy and conversation! Not to mention the wine that kept flowing courtesy of Whole Foods too! (Though half the group probably couldn’t drink, needing to navigate the way out of the twisty s-curves of the canyon!) So take a look at our Prius 10th Anniversary Outstanding In The Field dinner on the next page! Bon Appetit!